J.H.

Our little Lump o’ Dirt is ten acres of future vineyard land in Manson, WA. Until the vines are installed, it’s just a lump of dirt. Until spring, it’s just snow covered dirt. We’ll try some test plantings this year to assess the potential for specific varieties on the site. It sure looks promising, though (under the snow).

Explore more about our adventures in the dirt in the ‘Catagories’ sidebar under ‘Sesto Cielo’. That’s 6th Heaven.

J.H.

The vineyard consensus:

2009 started out with big and lofty goals and ended with many lessons learned.

First, we need a tractor. We need something with 4-wheel drive to climb the steepest slope. We need something that can carry a full 2000 lb macrobin of ultra-premium grapes and can move giant granite boulders. We need something with enough torque to pull old wind break stumps and a front bucket to push dirt.

Vineyard Art

Basically we need a new best friend. We’ll be cutting down the windbreaks and burning the wood piles. We’ll be removing the obvious rocks again and digging up the remaining dead stumps. We’ll be planning the direction of the rows and laying the corresponding irrigation pipes. Will the tractor be able to turn around? Will we need an excavator to terrace the banks? Where will the buildings go?

Dear Santa,

I’ve been real good and made Uncle Sam some money this year. Will you please send me a:

WineGirl

At Home

Progresso

High Noon

More Progresso

Ripped!

In only 7 days, we cleared nearly 4 acres with the ripper and the bobcat raker. It was dirty, dirty work. A layer of pig pen dust encircled our every movement and you won’t believe the nature of our nostril inhabitants. Wow, farming’s harder than I thought!

Rooster Raking

Peace Out,

WineGirl PO

The newest Deere in my life.

Our new toy came equipped with an earth moving bucket in the front and 2, 2 foot shanks in the back. Oh my, what a marvel! So, it was done, and the John Deere 450 was to be delivered that afternoon. We departed the rental shop to the words “Good luck. You’ll find things you never knew you had.” Hmm. I thought I heard that one somewhere before. No matter. Off, to the site.

With the intention to shank all ten acres, our first day ended by carefully staying to the west side of the new road made in July.

Why?

Well, “you’ll find things you didn’t even know you had” turned up a six inch water main, we didn’t, well, even know we had. Darnit. All that work tracking down information about the previous orchard water system in July certainly didn’t prepare us for this mondo pipe! It was as if the PVC pipe had been born from the stars and birthed from the earth beneath our eyes.

What was that?

Zoiks!

So, our first eager day of shanking ended with sun down at seven pm. Phew!

WineGirl,

WG

John Deere 450	The Challenge
The Enemy	Lunchtime
The Challenger	Lowering the Shanks
Future of Chelan Terroir	Nothing's too big for the Shanker!
A tangled web we weave.	Getting Rid of Junk
Can we list "old iron pipe" on Craigslist?	The Super Shank Damages

We started off the week at Sesto Cielo’s 10 acres, ambitiously believing we could shank it all in 2 days. HAH! my friends. The heavens above have something else in store for our little orchard, fallowed be thy name. We managed to shank the NW quadrant in 3 days and I am trying to maintain supreme positivity that we might have a fighting chance over old apple roots come spring time.

Oh, please Dawg tell us that we are not, dare I admit? LOCO? Loco comes from the Arabic lawqa meaning foolish. Suffice it to say, that perhaps we should name this block of the vineyard the Lawqa Block.

Yours in Dust,

WineGirl

Dust

Pipe Forklift

Welds hold up.

Pipe is no match for Super Javier

Harnessing Pipe!

Pipeman

Pipeload

Pipe loading is boring when you’re 5’4″.

hmm, what were these for again?

OMG! How long does it take to pick up pipe? We gotta go to Lowes then, Starbucks, then Home Depot. Krappe it’s already 1:00 PM. It won’t be 2 till we get back to the lot.

New Belt!

Finally, back at the lot!

Pipe Gluer

Up

Down

Agh. The pressure’s on. We came to put pipes in the ground and we’ve yet to complete our task and it’s the hottest part of the last day and we have to be home at 6 for dinner with grandparents! We’re out of TIME!

Up

Down

But without fail, we plunged through the 88° heat and sowed up one block of 12 rows of feed line and more than half of the mainline pipes. It looks like chinese chopsticks along our new road!

Lots of pipe!

Time to head back to Seattle in the morning, write a paper, say good bye to a dear dear friend, check on Charlie and Chi Chi… Real life has got to happen somewhere in between! So much work! but our team of three has really congealed into the Green Woman Hill group. We’ve learned what assess are for (idea reservoirs) and we’ve come up with more than enough ridiculous puns to last a lifetime. What’s next? I guess we’ll be back for more in July!

Bubbye,
WineGirl

Ciao

Confucius Farmer says “If you ever do half a days work, don’t drive over it; or it will be a whole days work!”

In other words after renting the Ditch Witch trench digger to make the holes for irrigation pipes, Richard made an escapade down the new road and accidentally drove over the new ditch causing us to have to RE-DIG the ditch. Confucius Farmer blister o!

Then I got stung by an abeja. So between my war wounds from last Sunday’s cat fight, my derby injured knee and the thousand prickers embedded in my palm from the fight with a tumbleweed, I’m amazed I’m still buzzing! Ouch!

Visit from Star.

sit, booboo, sit

ditch witch

witch ditch

where's the witch?

After digging out the trench…

Filthy

Vaquero Javier

8:30 AM: Wilson Orchard & Vineyard Supply
After accidentally knocking on the door of a private residence we find Wilson (down the hill, like the sign said). Let’s talk irrigation pipes, two inch lines, solenoid valves, risers, drip line, uphill along the slope, 30 psi, filters, 30 microns, crimper, $0.27 per foot, $100 per valve, butterfly valve, pre-designed, 50 meters, 333 feet, three lines, feeder pipe, NE quadrant… Oh My!

10:00 AM: United Pipes
Quote number two, that valve is cheaper, that line is more expensive, WHOLESALERS only, cash accounts…

11:30 AM: Chelan Country PUD
We won’t give you a map of the utility lines, you must CALL before you DIG!

12:15 PM: Quiznos
Finally! Oh man, need me a turkey, avocado sammich. AND double chocolate chip cookie!

1:00 PM: Call Before you Dig
Phone call to the man. White spray paint means “find my line.” Red means electric, risk of DEATH if you cut here! Green means sewer… Are they gonna be able to find the place? Oh My!

2:00 PM: Sleepy Hollow Nursery
Us: We’re putting in 10 acres of vines and we need windbreak trees.
Him: Uh, like those?
Us: Yeah.
Him: No one really sells windbreaks anymore because all the orchards that need windbreaks already have them.
Us: But ours are dying, what should we do?
Him: Try the hybrid willow.
Us: What’s that?
Him: Uh, I dunno.

2:30 PM: Tractors
Oh yeah! Tractors baby! $27,000 Massey Fergusons. Which one’s Javier?

Massey Ferguson

and Blue Landinis. Is Landini the Lamborghini tractor?

Blue Landini

And of course, the quintessential Green & Yellow.

Jon Dear & John Deere

3:15 PM: Time to head back to Chelan for some white spray paint from ACE hardware and metal pipes from Stihl to affix to the truck to carry the 20 foot PVC irrigation pipes we’ll be bringing home Friday.

Front Mount Pipes

WineGirl,

A girl and a tractor.

6AM, off to rent the Bobcat tractor with a shank fitted plow box in the back and a dump bucket in the front.

Carving roads, making tracks, kicking up dust. Jon Farmer (not to be confused with Farmer Jon) was tearing up the place all day. I cut new tracks up the center and all around to divide the property into four quadrants.

Jon Farmer

Center Road

Ang on the other hand got stuck with the shovel, digging up apple roots, weeds and whatever else was in the newly carved road.

A girl and her shovel

The Boss's Tractor

And we had to test out the road. It worked great at holding up the jeep.

roadtest

J.H.

Added by WineGirl. Click on the pic below to see its animation.